Day: 14 October 2023

Doha, Qatar Foundation for Education, Research, and Community (QF) launched the fourth season of the Siraj TV show, which aims to help children learn the Arabic language in a thrilling and captivating way.

The event was launched within QF’s activities held at the family zone at the International Horticultural Expo 2023 Doha, where three episodes were broadcast at the Expo.

Head of Culture and Identity at PUE’s Student Affairs and Community Engagement Azlaa Hamad Al Qahtani said the new season includes 11 episodes one of them on the Qatar National Day to promote the sense of belonging and patriotism in children, as well as promote moral values and core life skills since the program is one of the key sources of knowledge at home and abroad.

Arabic language teacher at Qatar Academy Doha, Jamila Al Shammari, said the program is one of QF’s initiatives aimed at learning the Arabic language and highlighting the current issues facing children.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Israeli occupation forces brutally assaulted several young Palestinians this afternoon in the neighborhood of Sur Baher in occupied Jerusalem, according to local sources.

A video footage, circulated by the town’s residents, showed Israeli occupation policemen savagely assaulting young men from Sur Baher as they were out to purchase essential items. The Israeli policemen brutally beat them with rifle butts before apprehending them.

Following the Israeli assault, intense confrontations erupted between the local Palestinian youth and the Israeli occupation forces, who have recently been raiding the town time and again, subjecting its residents to harassment and assaulting their homes.

In a related incident, Israeli occupation forces arrested a young Palestinian woman from the neighborhood of Beit Hanina in occupied Jerusalem after raiding her house, conducting searches, and confiscating mobile phones and computers.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency – WAFA

CAIRO, Egypt and Turkey on Saturday expressed deep concern at the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza affirming necessity that aid be secured to the Gazans.

Spokesperson of the presidency Ahmad Fahmi said in a statement the joint stand was manifested during a meeting between President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi and the visiting Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan.

The two side were in consensus regarding the grave dangers emanating from the current conditions in Gaza as they constitute a threat to the region’s security and stability, Fahmi said, indicating that they agreed that there must be intensive international action to halt the violence immediately and taking measures to protect the civilians.

Moreover, they agreed on the necessity of working a comprehensive and just settlement to the Palestinian cause on the basis of the two states’ solution.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

With a full-fledged Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, civilians there are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, the World Food Programme (WFP) Representative and Country Director in Palestine, Samer AbdelJaber, has said.

In an interview with UN News, AbdelJaber discussed the unique complexities of the situation, warning that Israel has threatened to shut off Internet access on Saturday.

He underscored the vital need for unimpeded corridors to transport humanitarian aid into the enclave and highlighted the dedication of WFP staff who remain on the ground.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency – WAFA

BRUSSELS, More than 130 additional troops from Romania arrived in Kosovo on Friday to further reinforce NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) peacekeeping mission, in addition to two hundred British soldiers deployed earlier this month.

NATO in a statement Saturday said the deployment of these additional troops comes after the violent attack on Kosovo Police on 24 September and increased tensions in the region “These deployments are a prudent step to ensure KFOR has the forces it needs to fulfil its UN mandate to maintain a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all people in Kosovo,” it noted.

NATO has been leading a peacekeeping operation in Kosovo since 1999. It currently consists of well over 4,500 troops contributed by 27 NATO member states and partners.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee, Hussein Al-Sheikh, announced today that intensive diplomatic efforts are being made in order to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

In a press statement, Al-Sheikh said these efforts are aimed at opening humanitarian corridors to supply the embattled people of Gaza with badly needed food, medical aid and essential services including electricity and water.

The primary goal of these efforts, he said, is to avert the dire consequences of the ongoing devastating war, safeguard the lives of civilians, prevent their displacement, and bring an immediate halt to the aggression.

Al-Sheikh said he has reached out to Arab nations and several other countries to facilitate a swift and coordinated response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency – WAFA

Baghdad,The Israeli army announced today, Saturday, the readiness of its forces to implement a wide range of offensive operations plans ,with increasing expectations of an imminent invasion of the Gaza Strip, a week after Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel.

The army said in a statement that its forces were deployed across the country, increasing operational preparations for the next phases of the war, “with a focus on large ground operations.”

It added, “The plans may include coordinated strikes from the air, sea and land” on the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he visited Israeli infantry soldiers around the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

The office published a video recording accompanying the statement, in which Netanyahu appeared telling them, “Are you ready for the next stage? It is coming.”

The recording did not offer clarification other than to show the infantrymen nodding their heads in response to his question.

The Israeli army mobilized thousands of reserve soldiers and dozens of tanks on the Gaza border, in conjunction with demands from residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate and head south, in what appears to be preparation for ground action.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Saturday that a Palestinian child died after Israeli occupation forces shot him Friday.

The victim, Muhammad Adwan, was shot by Israeli soldiers in peaceful demonstrations that turned violent after Israeli forces tried to quell it in Tulkarm in the northern occupied West Bank to denounce the Israeli war in besieged Gaza.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Baghdad, Today, Saturday, the Lebanese Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the radar sites, Ruwaisat Al-Alam, Al-Samaqa, Zibdin, and Ramtha, with guided missiles and mortar shells.

Hezbollah said in a statement, “The resistance achieved accurate and direct hits on 5 Israeli sites in the occupied Shebaa Farms.”

The Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, stated earlier today that “the resistance situation today is excellent, and all scenarios are fully prepared.”

The Iranian Tasnim news agency reported that “Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met, during his visit to Lebanon, with the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah,” noting that the current developments in the region were discussed in this meeting, especially developments in Palestine after the “Tawafan Al-Aqsa ” operation, which was carried out by the Palestinian factions.

In this meeting, the two sides condemned “the unilateral support provided by America and some Western countries for the Zionist aggression against Gaza and the killing of the innocent Palestinian people,” and praised “the widespread support for the Palestinian resistance throughout the world,” stressing “the necessity of unity and cooperation between peoples and Islamic countries and free people in the world, and immediate and coordinated action to stop the crimes of the Zionist entity,” according to the agency. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stressed, earlier today, “the necessity of stopping the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip immediately.”

He said, in a press conference at the Iranian embassy in Beirut, “The resistance is the one that determines its conditions after stopping the aggression on Gaza, and it is also the one that will decide what it will do if the scope of the war expands.”

On October 7, the Commander-in-Chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Muhammad al-Deif, announced the start of Operation “Tawafan Al-Aqsa” to put an end to “Israeli violations,” according to him. Al-Deif said in a statement: “The strike the first, which targeted enemy positions, airports, and military fortifications, exceeded 5,000 missiles and shells.”

The Israeli army then announced the start of Operation Iron Swords and launched strong raids on the Gaza Strip, in addition to clashes with Hamas fighters inside the settlements.

The Hamas movement was able to capture an unknown number of Israelis, including soldiers and officers, and return them to the Gaza Strip, while the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last Sunday that the security cabinet had officially approved the start of the war on the Gaza Strip.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday departed on a European tour that includes the UK, Italy, Germany, and France to rally international support to stop the war on Gaza.

King Abdullah’s meetings will cover the dangerous and deteriorating situation in Gaza, and the need to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

In London, His Majesty is scheduled to meet with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, while in Rome, the King is slated to meet with Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

In Berlin, His Majesty is holding separate meetings with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as a number of officials.

The King concludes the tour in Paris, with a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.

His Royal Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein was sworn in as Regent, in the presence of Cabinet members.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Marrakech, HE Minister of Finance Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari and the accompanying delegation participated in the meeting of Their Excellencies Arab finance ministers with the President of the World Bank, which was held within the framework of the annual meetings of the Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, currently held in Marrakech, in the Kingdom of Morocco.

The meeting discussed the most important regional and international economic developments, in addition to the challenges facing Arab countries’ economies and the world as a whole.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha, Qatar Airways signed a partnership agreement with Starlink to roll out a complimentary high-speed and low-latency internet connectivity experience onboard specific aircraft and routes.

This partnership will be a further enhancement of Qatar Airways’ 5-star onboard experience. Once the service is active, passengers will be able to enjoy ultra-fast Wi-Fi speeds of up to 350 Megabits per second, which can be used for a variety of internet-based services such as streaming videos, entertainment and sports videos, gaming, enriched web-browsing and much more.

HE Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said, “Qatar Airways is proud to announce its agreement with Starlink to provide seamless and complimentary Wi-Fi to its global passengers. This exciting collaboration is not only in line with our industry-leading approach to technological adoption, but also serves as an unmissable opportunity to connect Starlink to our global passengers. We look forward to our passengers benefitting from this state-of-the-art addition to Qatar Airways’ in-flight experience.” Qatar Airways and Starlink are currently in the pre-launch phase of the rollout strategy across Qatar Airways fleet. The high-speed and low-latency network is powered by the revolutionary Starlink satellite communications system – the worlds largest satellite internet constellation.

Starlink delivers high-speed, low-latency internet to users all over the world, as it has recently been introduced to commercial airlines.

Qatar Airways/ is the latest airline to partner with Starlink. It is also being implemented by JSX, Hawaiian Airlines, airBaltic, and ZIPAIR.

Source: Qatar News Agency